Top 10 Free Tools To Make Infographics

Top 10 Free Tools To Make Infographics

In today’s date, cut-throat competition is prevalent in the market. There are a large number of business organizations that are operating in more or less the same business lines.

Hence, it has become essential for these business firms to reach out to the audiences in the simplest manner. Moreover, making available information in a form that is easily comprehensible by the audiences has become a must. This is where data visualization comes into the picture.

Businesses can now present data related to their products, services as well as markets by making use of some exceptional and out of the box data visualization tools.

Infographics comes across as bang on ingenious data visualization tools. Moreover, every business organization’s desire to carry out spot on branding can be fulfilled with the help of Infographics.

Our further discussion will revolve around the ten best free Infographics tools, which are believed to play a central role in helping you to give the much wanted push to the marketing and sales efforts of your business unit at large.

The 10 Best Free Infographics Tools:

You can now have a taste of some extraordinary interactive visualizations only with the help of Stat Planet. Moreover, with the help of this tool you will be able to customize your visualizations by using the same within your browser or even by getting it downloaded free of cost for that matter.

Hohli –

You can now get into some online chart making with the help of the Hohli tool. This particular tool is considered to be highly intuitive and simple to use. Moreover, the charts that happen to be the outcome of this particular tool are known to carry fabulous designs.

If you desire to add a touch of uniqueness to your visualizations, then in that case it is high time that you settle down for the Tableau tool. Tableau happens to be a Windows only software that is known to deliver stunning graphs that are highly colorful and vibrant.

If you desire to import visualizations and then merge them along with the other visuals in order to create a brand new visualization at the end, then in that case it would be wise of you to opt for the Inkscape tool. This particular tool is considered to be absolutely effortless as far as its use is concerned.

Many Eyes –

You can now get your hands onto visualizations that carry a largely professional look by getting hold of the Many Eyes tool. With this tool you get the opportunity of either using your individual data or opting for the data that is already stored on the website.

You can now come up with flow charts as well as random diagrams without having to put in much effort with the help of the tool Creately. Moreover, you also get the chance of choosing between a number of diagrams and finally going ahead with your visualizations by simply adding your data to the same.

Piktochart –

In case of the free version of the Piktochart tool you get to choose from a small number of template alternatives. Moreover, the end product that comes out as a result of the Piktochart tool use is known to come complete with a Piktochart watermark.

If you desire to make use of icons on your infographics or even your website for that matter, then in that case it would be sensible of you to opt for the Icon Archive. These icons are known to be developed by commercial artists and thus it is essential for you to go through the licensing terms and conditions before shortlisting the icons.

If you are a developer who is looking forward to get hold of a desktop tool, then in that case D3 comes across as a perfect pick for you. D3 can help you to come up with just the right imagery if you have somewhat decent programming skills in you.

GIMP comes across as a bang on substitute for Photoshop. With the help of this particular tool you can carry out a number of functions, the end result of which is utmost creative visualizations monetize.

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4 Tips for Using Wikipedia as a Marketing Tool

When you type in a Google search for a name brand, famous figure, or historical event, you’ll almost always see a familiar name at the top of the search results: Wikipedia. In fact, it’s hard to spend much time in any search engine without encountering a Wikipedia page. But have you ever thought about whether this popular online encyclopedia could be a powerful marketing tool for your brand?

Four Tips for Wikipedia Marketing

Whether it’s for a personal brand or a business, it’s possible to obtain a Wikipedia page. Don’t confuse this with being easy or effortless, though. Depending on a number of factors, you may find it challenging to get started.

However, here are some helpful tips that should get you moving in the right direction:

1. Wikipedia Has Notability Requirements

Wikipedia has some requirements regarding who and what can have a page. These are known as “notability requirements.” You can read about all of the details, but the basic gist is that you must have a collection of authoritative third party sources of biographical information on the internet in order to create a page. These sources typically come from PR releases, interviews, articles, or online records.

2. Wikipedia Shouldn’t Be Your Initial Focus

Let’s say you’re trying to build your personal brand. While Wikipedia is certainly a very visible website, it shouldn’t (and can’t) be your first focus. You must invest in a far more general content marketing and PR strategy before even considering Wikipedia.

Take Tim Sykes, successful millionaire penny stock trader and coach, as an example. If you look at his Wikipedia page, you’ll notice there are nearly 50 references at the bottom. In order for his page to be validated, every single statement had to be backed by a third-party resource. It took years for Sykes to earn enough links and stories to earn the right to have a Wikipedia page. Remember, focus on molding yourself (or your brand) into a notable entity before considering Wikipedia.

3. Don’t Take a DIY Approach

“If you believe your company passes the notability test, but Wiki volunteers have not yet created an article for your organization, you may be tempted to take matters into your own hands,” journalist James A. Martin explains. “The DIY approach to Wikipedia, however, is usually a bad idea.”

Wikipedia has a conflict of interest guidelines. These guidelines simply state that Wikipedia pages must be written and edited by third party individuals. Instead of writing your own page (that will more than likely be flagged), hire a professional who is unbiased and understands the intricacies of publishing on Wikipedia.

4. Be Prepared for Criticism

In an ideal world, your Wikipedia page would be a powerful marketing tool that would tout all of the wonderful things you’ve done. But you have to remember that Wikipedia is a collaborative platform where people can edit and revise entries.

“The biggest reason to avoid a Wikipedia entry is that once you finally achieve one, it stops being your own,” journalist Monica Hesse says. “You might have created it, but everyone else can edit it. The resulting product isn’t going to be a celebration of you, it’s going to be a clinical analysis of your failures as well as your triumphs.”

If you’re willing to take on these risks, then so be it. Just remember that you aren’t in total control of your Wikipedia page.

Wikipedia Marketing: Proceed With Caution

When it comes to Wikipedia for marketing purposes, the best piece of advice is to proceed with caution. There are great pages – such as this one of baseball Hall-of-Famer Hank Aaron – and then there are big blunders – such as these.

How to Watch Netflix Outside of the United States

As bloggers and especially travel bloggers, we may find ourselves with the opportunity to travel through out the world. In addition to the many perks of being able to run your business and blog from anywhere, you might also run into connectivity issues when traveling outside your country. One specific issue that travelers may discover is there inability to access some of their favorite sites such as Netflix.

Once getting their access to the internet and seeing they can’t access Netflix, but they can access other areas of the internet such as WordPress and their own sites, they may feel that Netflix, Facebook and other media sites that are being blocked is a lost cause… however, this isn’t the case.

Yes! It is possible to watch Netflix outside of the States – and you can access other video streaming websites too!

‘Orange is the New Black’ and ‘House of Cards’ are currently my two most favorite TV shows, making Netflix an online holy grail… especially when you have time to kill or for long flights that have internet access.

For those of us who live in the States, accessing Netflix poses no problem at all, however, if you happen to go on vacation, travel overseas for business or perhaps even move to another country you will have one serious issue – you won’t be able to access it.

You could end up wasting valuable time trying to figure out how to watch Netflix whilst in Europe or any other country that you may find yourself in, but I’ll let you in on a little secret. No matter where you are in the world, there is a way to unblock Netflix, plus all the other video streaming sites out there such as Pandora, Hulu and HBO.

The secret to unblock Netflix – continue reading, it’s coming!

How does Netflix know where I am in the world?

Netflix recognizes you by your IP address – it doesn’t matter what type of device you use to access it, because it checks your IP address to find out where in the world you are. If you’re in Europe, and you connect to Netflix, it can detect that you’re outside of the United States, and it will display the message “Sorry, Netflix is not available in your country yet”. Netflix will only grant access to its services to those who are located in the States – those with an American IP address. So, you need to change your IP address to one that is located in the States.

The secret is to use a VPN (which stands for Private Virtual Network).

Using a VPN is like using a different internet service provider, no trace of your original IP address can be detected. For example, if you’re in Florida, and you connect to a VPN server in New York, your original IP address is hidden, and any website you visit thinks that you are now in New York.

While the concept and basics of a VPN might look something confusing like the image below, the complications of it all have been made quite simple by many of the different VPN server companies on the market today.

I’ve tried several VPN providers over the years, but one that I’ve always stuck with is Hide My Ass! because a) they have thousands of IPs, b) they have more servers around the globe than any other VPN provider, and c) have the fastest servers on the market, which of course is so important when streaming Netflix.

You can use Hide My Ass! on your PC (Windows), Mac, and Linux operating systems. And you can download their free app for your iPhone, iPad, etc. via the iTune’s store, and for your Android device via the Google Play store.

Downloading the software takes a few minutes, and if you do have any questions you can contact their customer support guys who are really knowledgeable and helpful.

Currently, they have 620 VPN servers, and over 77,000 IP addresses to choose from, and they are continually adding more servers, new countries and locations to their database making them my number one choice of VPN provider.

This screenshot shows that I’ve selected a US State, which will allow me to watch Netflix.

Do I need an American credit card to purchase Netflix?

You’ll find that you will be able to use your non-American credit card to pay for a Netflix account, but you will likely need a US ZIP code. It won’t stop your payment from going through, so don’t worry about that.

American ZIP codes are made up of 5 numbers, for example, 10003 is a New York one. There are a number of websites that provide ZIP all US states.

So, enjoy Netflix, and if you have any questions I would love to hear from you!

For many bloggers traveling throughout the world, the last thing they would probably think of when leaving for their trip would be what sites they might have trouble accessing at their final destination. Fortunately through the use of VPN providers this shouldn’t be an issue, especially when planning ahead.

Less than 5% of Men Cited Reading Blogs as their Favourite Online Activity

So when you wrote that piece about how you loved Phil Neville’s commentating style during the FIFA World Cup 2014, the men you were hoping would lap it up, quite probably didn’t. That is, of course, unless you carried out some research of your own and found that’s exactly what your male audience was crying out for.

For those that didn’t want to read a blog post, not only might you have turned them off (or bypassed them completely) by choosing that channel, your praise for Phil Neville’s commentary style may well have done the same. But at least a bad reaction is better than no reaction at all.

A recent study [infographic] revealed that unlike the 7% of women who said reading blogs was their favorite online activity, more than 95% of men chose social media, games, videos or other types of content as theirs. Admittedly neither party was overly enamored with blogs, so while they can be an easy way to add active content to your website, you might be completely wasting your time. So how do you know?

Conduct your own research

Finding out what people do and don’t like doesn’t have to be costly. If budgets are tight or content just isn’t on senior management’s radar – it’s free to ask your customers what they want via social media. If you’ve got a bit more time on your hands, basic metrics from Google Analytics will tell you things like your top landing pages, how long people spend on a particular page (and therefore how interesting/engaging it is), as well as the route they take around your site. These are all insights into their behavior and what they enjoy looking at online.

Look at what your competitors are doing

Nobody wants to be late to a trend, but getting a feel for the kind of content people go crazy for and reacting to it can be a good place to start. Sometimes it’s a good first step into the world of creating content that works. Sometimes a great way to achieve success is by taking an idea that’s been done, and creating something bigger, better and more shareable.

What’s being shared?

Dig around on Twitter and Facebook – what are people liking/sharing/commenting on? Is there something relevant to your brand/business that you can pick up on? Even if your starting point is as simple as getting involved in a discussion on a particular hashtag, you might find you pick up a few more followers and at the same time start building a picture of your audience.

Enlist the help of analysts

If the thought of research or analysis fills you with dread, there are plenty of companies and lots of available software on hand to help you know your audience. Have a dig around, maybe even try a few out – there are plenty that will offer you a free trial. If you make good use of Twitter, a great tool to analyse your followers is Followerwonk.

Soon you’ll know exactly what content your audience likes and the tasks of planning, creating, publishing and analysing content will become something that delivers satisfaction, not nightmares. And when you can show the powers that be just how much can be achieved from content, your business cred will soar and we think most of our readers would probably like a pat on the back.

For more related tips, check out this great post which can be used to help blogging as well as social media efforts.